NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 23, 2017

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive .

Saturday, December 23, 2017

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 2:07 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Saturday, December 23, 2017. The daily crossword is the classic: a 15×15 grid on weekdays and a larger Sunday puzzle, with difficulty rising from a gentle Monday to a fiendish Saturday. Hints come first and the solution stays hidden until you ask for it.

68 clues · jump to Across or Down. Tap a tile for one letter, or Answer for the whole word.

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.

WhatsApp X Reddit

Previous The Crossword answer

Friday, December 22, 2017

across

1. Piece of equipment at a rock concert: GUITARAMP
10. Abba who was born "Aubrey": EBAN
14. Commitment you sometimes can't get out of?: ESCAPEROOM
16. Bats: LOCO
17. DC Comics supervillain group: THELEGIONOFDOOM
19. Celebrity: FAME
20. Composer Rachmaninoff: SERGEI
21. Coloration: HUE
22. "No bid": IPASS
24. Bazaar makeup: SHOPS
26. Beauty mark?: TEN
27. Engineer training centers: TECHSCHOOLS
33. Major U.S. city with three pairs of double letters in its name: TALLAHASSEE
34. Went from place to place: GALLIVANTED
35. Plane fare: AIRLINEFOOD
36. One who copes by excessive snacking: STRESSEATER
37. Many cos. seek its approval: FDA
40. Children's character who wears red-and-white stripes: WALDO
41. W.W. I battle site: YPRES
43. "Black-ish" network: ABC
44. "Sure, I guess": UHOKAY
50. Lee side?: REBS
51. What opening offers often leave: ROOMTONEGOTIATE
54. Founder of Carthage, in myth: DIDO
55. Spongy toy going up in popularity?: NERFROCKET
56. Big bunch: SLEW
57. Low throw: SNAKEEYES

down

1. Work out: GETFIT
2. Common magnet feature: USHAPE
3. Unemotional sort, in slang: ICEMAN
4. H. P. Lovecraft output: TALES
5. "Great" one in Africa: APE
6. Rules, for short: REGS
7. Grammy-winning artist India.___: ARIE
8. Make fast, in a way: MOOR
9. Game with a 40-millimeter ball, informally: PONG
10. Days of yore, in days of yore: ELD
11. Cried dramatically: BOOHOOED
12. Not many: ACOUPLE
13. Easily cleaned, in adspeak: NOMESS
15. Homer's beer supplier: MOE
18. You can hardly believe it: FISHSTORY
23. Stops, as an engine: STALLSOUT
25. Totally cheated: HOSED
28. Merchant Samuel who lent his name to a historic island: ELLIS
29. "I Fall to Pieces" singer: CLINE
30. Words with cow or ball: HAVEA
31. Screw over: SHAFT
32. Something ported at a portage: CANOE
33. Like many a purchase weighed at a deli: TARED
34. Guidelines observed in sisterhood: GIRLCODE
35. Bubbling, say: ATABOIL
36. Grasslands: SWARDS
37. Way out: FREAKY
38. Creditor, in financial jargon: DEBTEE
39. They may be liquid: ASSETS
42. What's always found in quotes?: PRICE
45. Term of endearment: HON
46. Easy things to dial on a rotary phone: ONES
47. "Ol' Man River" composer Jerome: KERN
48. Letters on old film boxes: AGFA
49. Duchess of ___: YORK
52. Do some diamond cutting?: MOW
53. Corn site: TOE

Hints and full breakdown for Dec 22

More daily puzzle hints

How the week is built

Monday and Tuesday: straightforward definitions and familiar answers. These are the best days to learn.
Wednesday: a step up, often with a playful theme.
Thursday: the trick day, with rebus squares (several letters in one square) and answers that turn corners or skip squares.
Friday and Saturday: themeless and tough, with sly clues and long open sections.
Sunday: a bigger 21×21 grid with a theme, about as hard as a Wednesday or Thursday.

Crossword-solving habits worth building

Learn the common fill. Short vowel-heavy words such as ERA, OREO, ALOE and ETNA appear constantly because they help constructors connect sections.
Read clue signals. "?" means wordplay, "Abbr." means an abbreviation, "e.g." means an example of a category, and a foreign word in the clue hints at a foreign answer.
Find the theme. The longest answers usually share a gimmick; the title (on Sundays) or a "revealer" clue explains it.
Erase without fear. When crossings don't work, the wrong letter is usually in the answer you were most confident about.
Use targeted help. Reveal one letter here, or try our crossword solver with a pattern like ?R?S?.

The Crossword FAQ

When is the next crossword released?

Weekday puzzles go live at 10 p.m. Eastern Time the night before; weekend puzzles are released earlier in the evening.

What is a rebus square?

A square that holds more than one letter. Sometimes it holds a whole word or a symbol. They are most common on Thursdays.

Which day is the hardest?

Saturday is generally the hardest, followed by Friday. Sunday is larger but closer to midweek difficulty.

Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive.